“I know where there is one!” was the satisfying reply. “There is an old bob-sled down in the boathouse, with a broken runner, that we can fix up. What do you say?”
“Is the iron runner broken?” Don asked quickly.
“No, but a wooden support is. The iron on it is all right, outside of being a bit rusty. Suppose we fix it up?”
The cadets needed no further invitation but rushed to the boathouse without delay, there to find the old bob-sled of which Douglas had spoken. The broken wooden support, running from the body of the sled to the iron runner, was not a serious problem, and between them they soon managed to get it out and substitute another one for it.
“There!” cried Jim, proudly. “As good as new, by golly!”
“Well, just about,” agreed Vench. “If it was new it would have a little less dust on it, but as an A number one sled it is OK.”
“We’ll soon clean the dust off it,” decided Douglas, and they got some water from the gym, a brush and soap, and went to work with a will, with the result that the sled was soon in a different condition.
“Too late to try her out before supper,” decided Don, glancing out at the gathering darkness. “But we’ll go over to the hill after we eat.”
As soon as the evening meal was over Woodcrest Military school was nearly deserted, almost all of the cadets going toward the distant hill. Only a few boys, more interested in warm quarters and books, remained in the school to miss the fun.
The friends ran down to the boathouse, uncovered the bob, which they had hidden under some loose canvas, and placing it on the snow, pulled it at a rapid pace toward Nelson Hill. It took them a good half hour to get there, as it was uphill most of the way. The cadets who had arrived before them had lighted fires, which blazed against the black sky like flaming beacons, and by the light of these fires the cadets were coasting. The hill was long and sloping and gave them a good ride, and by the same token, a good stiff walk up again.